Hello everyone. Welcome to today's blog.
The sugar summit is one of the most important aspects of your preplanning for your month without sugar and flour. Sure, you may be determined to go without sugar and flour for a month, but odds are that other people in your life might be skeptical of the whole idea. For me, it was my children, who made it very clear from the first mention of my experiment, that going without sugar and flour would be classified as child abuse.
I can’t say that I blame them for thinking that way and I can’t blame any of your friends or family for thinking you might have lost your mind too, especially since our culture has a foundation built on sugar. The key here isn’t to sway them over to your thinking and have them join you, instead, the Sugar Summit is an opportunity for all of you to determine the best means of support for your success. In the end, it’s just for a month, so you can explain that their lives won’t be altered forever, so they should be a little open minded.
Now, before you stop reading because you don’t have kids, or you are a single person who doesn’t hang out with other people, I promise you will still need the Summit paperwork to some degree. You might use it as a tool at work to help explain what you are doing and maybe get them on board with some fruit to go along with the boxes of donuts every so often. Possibly you can sit down with your friends who you go out with and explain that certain late night eating establishments might need to be skipped for a month so you can find more options. Maybe even bring the paper to a book club or quilting group you attend regularly and help them understand that offering you sugary snacks during the month would not be the best thing.
This form is easy to complete and is built to help everyone understand the foods that can be readily available through the month, which ones should be minimized, and which ones would be best not to have around, especially the first couple of weeks when temptation is at its highest point. Feel free to print multiple copies for all the different groups in your life.
Worksheet Overview: (The worksheet is broken into three separate parts for your convenience.)
· Foods that fit in the program:
These are fruits, vegetables, and meats or cheeses that everyone in your summit group enjoys. Assure them that these will be readily available for all to snack on, which should lessen the blow of having to give some things up later on in the meeting.
· Foods that don’t fit in the program, but you don’t like:
The key here is to identify things that would never tempt you in a moment of weakness. If you think a particular cracker or chip is repulsive, but your coworker loves them, then encourage them to have those in their desk drawer instead of something you love. If a family member has to have cereal every morning, then seek out one they like and you don’t. No chance of a late night craving there.
· Foods that don’t fit with the program and you like:
Unfortunately, the foods on this list have to be phased out during the initial portion of the program implementation due to their tempting nature. Are your family and friends going to be a little disappointed that will have to go a couple of weeks without waving your favorite foods under your nose? Probably because it’s their favorite food too, but it’s more than likely they will support you since it’s just temporary. They should also understand that just because you are following the no sugar/no flour program, it doesn’t mean you’ll be following them around all day judging them for eating a roll, cookie, or drinking a soda.
**Secret note: You might find that after you phase out some of the foods from your home, your family members will get used to not having them around and you will actually make them a little healthier in this process. My youngest son is obsessed with natural applesauce as a treat, something we never really stocked regularly because we always bought crackers or chips for him to snack on.
Download the sheet at the bottom of this blog and schedule your “Sugar Summit” today with your family, friends, and coworkers.
All the best!
John Graham
The sugar summit is one of the most important aspects of your preplanning for your month without sugar and flour. Sure, you may be determined to go without sugar and flour for a month, but odds are that other people in your life might be skeptical of the whole idea. For me, it was my children, who made it very clear from the first mention of my experiment, that going without sugar and flour would be classified as child abuse.
I can’t say that I blame them for thinking that way and I can’t blame any of your friends or family for thinking you might have lost your mind too, especially since our culture has a foundation built on sugar. The key here isn’t to sway them over to your thinking and have them join you, instead, the Sugar Summit is an opportunity for all of you to determine the best means of support for your success. In the end, it’s just for a month, so you can explain that their lives won’t be altered forever, so they should be a little open minded.
Now, before you stop reading because you don’t have kids, or you are a single person who doesn’t hang out with other people, I promise you will still need the Summit paperwork to some degree. You might use it as a tool at work to help explain what you are doing and maybe get them on board with some fruit to go along with the boxes of donuts every so often. Possibly you can sit down with your friends who you go out with and explain that certain late night eating establishments might need to be skipped for a month so you can find more options. Maybe even bring the paper to a book club or quilting group you attend regularly and help them understand that offering you sugary snacks during the month would not be the best thing.
This form is easy to complete and is built to help everyone understand the foods that can be readily available through the month, which ones should be minimized, and which ones would be best not to have around, especially the first couple of weeks when temptation is at its highest point. Feel free to print multiple copies for all the different groups in your life.
Worksheet Overview: (The worksheet is broken into three separate parts for your convenience.)
· Foods that fit in the program:
These are fruits, vegetables, and meats or cheeses that everyone in your summit group enjoys. Assure them that these will be readily available for all to snack on, which should lessen the blow of having to give some things up later on in the meeting.
· Foods that don’t fit in the program, but you don’t like:
The key here is to identify things that would never tempt you in a moment of weakness. If you think a particular cracker or chip is repulsive, but your coworker loves them, then encourage them to have those in their desk drawer instead of something you love. If a family member has to have cereal every morning, then seek out one they like and you don’t. No chance of a late night craving there.
· Foods that don’t fit with the program and you like:
Unfortunately, the foods on this list have to be phased out during the initial portion of the program implementation due to their tempting nature. Are your family and friends going to be a little disappointed that will have to go a couple of weeks without waving your favorite foods under your nose? Probably because it’s their favorite food too, but it’s more than likely they will support you since it’s just temporary. They should also understand that just because you are following the no sugar/no flour program, it doesn’t mean you’ll be following them around all day judging them for eating a roll, cookie, or drinking a soda.
**Secret note: You might find that after you phase out some of the foods from your home, your family members will get used to not having them around and you will actually make them a little healthier in this process. My youngest son is obsessed with natural applesauce as a treat, something we never really stocked regularly because we always bought crackers or chips for him to snack on.
Download the sheet at the bottom of this blog and schedule your “Sugar Summit” today with your family, friends, and coworkers.
All the best!
John Graham
 | Click below to download the Sugar Summit worksheet.
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